Elusive Happiness
by Cloud Traveler
Summary: Drugs, gangs, violence - Sasuke is starting to hang out with the wrong kind of people, abandoning his real friends and his family. What is an older brother to do when he sees his younger sibling slipping away more and more each day? Can Itachi catch him before he falls down in an endless spiral, and at what cost?
1. Catch

**My latest project. Almost like a little vacation for me, really, before I continue other stories I have going on. It won't be that long, though I can't exactly say how many chapters since I sometimes randomly come up with stuff that's so brilliant I can't help but include it and make the story longer than it's supposed to be. **

**So here you go, a cute-ish brotherfic – no, there won't be any romance pairings. Possibly hints, but it won't lead to anything. It takes place in an alternate, modern day Konoha. Minato is the mayor, several Akatsuki members and a few notable Uchiha will also be involved.**

**Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"_Nii-san! Can we play catch today?"_

_A tired smile spoke a thousand words, and the happy expression on the young boy's face dimmed instantly. His black hair was ruffled affectionately, and his older brother looked down at him with an apologetic expression as he then put his schoolbag down, taking off his shoes as well – having just arrived home from a long day in school. _

"_Not today, I have to study for my finals." _

_The younger boy pouted disappointedly, crossing his arms as he'd been anticipating his brother coming home for an entire hour._

"_But you always have to study." the six year old muttered, staring down at the ground with a gloomy frown. His brother felt a pang of guilt, and like a common routine, an old habit refusing to die, he gently poked his sibling's forehead, making him look up with a scowl as he oh so cutely puffed his cheeks._

"_I'm sorry, Sasuke. I'll play with you next time, once my finals are over." he said reassuringly, and the young boy's face brightened considerably. He wasn't so sure he could stick to his word, however. He was tired, he was a teenager in the middle of puberty, and the expectations put on him were enormous. He wasn't sure he'd have much time to spare on his little brother the next few weeks._

"_Promise?" In his younger brother's eyes, however, he was incapable of telling lies and breaking any promises. He'd never had before, after all, and the trust in him was unquestionable. This didn't do much but only increase the guilt blooming in his chest._

"_Promise." his older brother said with a small smile, and the young boy beamed, running to the living room and, as if announcing it to the whole world, declared to his mother that his big brother promised to play with him next time. Their mother seemed happy, having been concerned about her eldest neglecting his younger sibling lately. _

_That was the first promise Itachi broke._

_But not the last._

A picture he held in his pale hands, the distant dream of a memory from a much happier time. It was strange how times had changed so quickly, and he swore it had only been yesterday his little brother had been clinging to his arm, worshipping the ground he walked on – and at the same time, so envious; despising him, almost. No, that wasn't right. Not despising him specifically, but all of the attention he received, even if it was unwanted. Praises and compliments on a daily basis, so much so that they all became mundane and even annoying at times.

Itachi put the framed picture back on its place, on the corner of his completely tidy desk. He was twenty-one, renowned as a prodigy and a genius with nothing but excellent marks his entire school career, having aced every subject. His father was currently the police chief of Konoha, his entire family was widely regarded as one who seemed to be born to be successful, and in his case, he was indisputably the most successful. Of his generation, at least.

His two uncles, Madara and Izuna, were known all around the world as owning one of the most successful corporations (a huge oil company – Itachi had never cared much for such things) in the world. They were so ridiculously wealthy Itachi was surprised they hadn't just quit and lived off their money already. His mother's younger cousin, Obito, was also very rich. He was a car salesman, and probably the best one around – being able to talk you into buying a car in the blink of an eye and by the time you realized he'd ripped you off you'd already signed the contract. Then there was also Shisui, his second cousin – meaning they only shared the same great-grandparents – who was studying to be a cardiothoracic surgeon (a fancy name for a heart surgeon), which was also a very profitable career. Itachi himself was studying psychiatry, knowing it would be fairly simple for someone like him to finish it early and he'd get hired relatively easily as well.

In the face of all of these members of the family who'd each already left their mark, how could Sasuke not be envious? It at least pushed him to work so much harder, but he'd often compared his own successes to Itachi's, and at one point, the older brother had decided enough was enough and had a talk with him about it when he was twelve. He wanted him to know that he was his own person, and he shouldn't try to be Itachi because it wasn't going to make him happy in the long run. He should focus on the things he loved, and forget about other people's expectations.

Evidently, Sasuke hadn't gotten the message.

Somewhere between moving to a new home and Sasuke's second year in high school, something had gone wrong, because his younger brother now was nothing like how he'd used to be. The whole family had written it off to puberty at first – the strange mood swings, the general angry and bitter look in his eyes, the snappy tone in which he spoke and how his temper had gotten a lot more sensitive – but the change had persisted. He was sixteen by now and it had only gotten worse. Itachi didn't see him as much as he used to since he'd moved out and was living on his own for a while now with a part-time job as a bartender, but he still visited regularly and talked to his mother on the phone. What he heard and saw was troubling, to say the least.

With a sigh, he walked out of his bedroom to the kitchen to get something to eat. It was Thursday afternoon, and he was free that day from both his studies and his part-time job, he had no kendo practice, no taekwondo either, which meant that he'd be visiting his family. He hadn't seen them in about a month, which usually was fine considering he was so busy all the time. Don't misunderstand; he fully enjoyed doing what he did, even if it was exhausting at times. Even his father, who was otherwise such a stern man who only wanted to see the best results, had suggested maybe dropping either kendo or taekwondo so that he'd have more spare time to relax – but he didn't want to relax. He was completely content with his life as it was going. Even his part-time job was a lot less tiring than it sounded. He was a bartender at a nice little bar which was usually quite peaceful – no rowdy youth there, mostly middle-aged men coming for a nice drink and chat among friends. Of course there was the occasional loud drunk but it was always easily taken care of.

His phone vibrated in his pocket as he opened his fridge, the very basic ringtone echoing through his small kitchen. He pulled it out, and recognized the caller ID immediately.

"Hello, mother. I was just about to eat and head over." he greeted her as he checked the date on the milk carton he'd just pulled out.

"Itachi," He frowned as he noted she sounded distressed, and he put the milk back and closed the fridge. "Sasuke, he's… he's gone!"

"Gone? Did he run away?" he questioned evenly, as his mother sighed, seeming to be completely distraught. Somehow, he wasn't nearly as surprised; Sasuke had been acting more and more rebellious lately. The running away from home scenario had just been waiting to happen, really.

"I don't know, I-I just got a call from his school and they said he never even showed up for his classes. He hasn't come home yet either! I don't want to worry your father needlessly, but I just–"

"Mother, calm down. I know a few places he might have gone, and I'll go look for him there. If I don't find him, I'll notify father." Itachi told her decisively, already walking through the small corridor of his house and reaching down to grab and put on his shoes.

"Thank you, Itachi. Please call me when you find him."

"Don't worry. I'll call you back in about an hour."

"Alright, take care." He hung up the phone wordlessly as he didn't bother putting on a jacket, seeing how it was warm and sunny outside. Worst case scenario, he was kidnapped and his organs were being cut out to be sold on the black market. Highly unlikely, as Konoha was one of the safest villages in the Land of Fire. Best case scenario – and also the most likely one – he decided to skip school altogether and hang out with some friends. Not his real friends, no. Itachi had met his _real _ friends on several occasions – Sasuke's closest friend, Naruto, always used to come over when they were much younger so Itachi knew the Namikaze boy very well, and knew he would never skip school, nor would any of Sasuke's other friends – neither would they let him skip school either.

Then it had to be the shady group his little brother had gotten involved with the past few years. Itachi had not actually met these friends, but he had seen them at times, and had questioned Sasuke about them as well. He'd told him they were merely acquaintances and that the reason he hung around them was none of his business. Itachi would gladly bet his car on that these "acquaintances" had coerced him into skipping his classes – even though Sasuke was pretty much the leader of the group.

He got into his cheap, black Volvo which Obito had grudgingly sold to him for quite a nice price for once, fastening his seat-belt and starting up the car as he went through a list of Sasuke's favorite places in his mind. There was the forest clearing in the woods behind their parents' house, but he doubted he would go there with other people, so he put that on the last place. Then there was the Senju Park in the west – always a beautiful spot to take a nice stroll through in the evening or walk your dogs, even hang out with friends on the numerous benches. That seemed like a very likely possibility. There was also the mall – but it was far too obvious an option with too much risk of being recognized and Sasuke wasn't nearly dim-witted enough to go there – and the Naka River Bridge which had a fantastic view, but he decided that the Senju Park was the most likely option. Nevertheless, he drove to the bridge first since it was nearer to him than the park, his fingers drumming almost impatiently on the steering wheel.

'_What are you thinking, Sasuke?'_

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**That was the first chapter! Please do tell me how I'm doing, because this is the first time I attempted a brotherfic without romance and drama and comedy and whatnot, so I'd really appreciate your feedback on this. I at least hope I stayed true to the characters :P**

**Also, yes, it's going to get a lot darker at some point, but for now, just your usual juvenile stuff.**

**Don't forget to review, and I'll see ya next time! **

**-Cloud.**


	2. Look at me

_When his older brother came home with a gold medal for taking the number one spot in the village's extremely popular kendo competition, everyone overlooked the straight A report card the youngest son had brought home that same day. His father had a proud smile on his face as he put a hand on Itachi's shoulder and gave him a few words of praise, as his mother took the medal from him to put it in the glass case which contained all the other numerous prizes he'd won over the years. _

"_Dad, look!" the eight year old boy said once his father was done congratulating Itachi, handing him his report card for that year. His father barely looked at it._

"_Nice work, son. Keep it up." was all he said, handing it right back as the phone started ringing and he picked it up. "Ah, Eiji! How is your boy doing? I hope Itachi didn't hurt him too much during the competition."_

_Sasuke scowled as his mother announced to make Itachi's favorite dish in a way to celebrate his victory. Even his mother, who usually always paid attention to Sasuke, was too taken in with her older son to notice. Perhaps his grades had been a standard in the Uchiha family, and winning the kendo competition was a much greater feat since so many others competed in it as well, considering it was the most popular sport in town next to several other martial arts._

_Still, Sasuke got the impression that no matter what he did, his older brother would always be one step ahead of him in his studies, extracurricular activities, and their parents' favor. What could he possibly do at this age to impress them anymore, when Itachi had done it all already?_

"_Let me see that." Sasuke looked up at his older brother who took the report card from him and looked it over attentively. He smiled happily at the young boy. "Very good, Sasuke. I see you've even improved in math." While he was happy at least someone noticed the effort he put into his studies, he really wished it had been someone else. It almost felt like Itachi was looking down on him._

"_Thanks." he snapped, taking his report card back rather briskly. "But I guess a gold medal is more impressive than anything I could ever do." Itachi frowned mildly. _

"_Sasuke–" _

"_Itachi? Could you set the table while I make dinner?" their mother interrupted them. Sasuke took this moment to dart up the stairs with an angry look on his face and Itachi watched him, growing sad that his little brother felt unappreciated. _

"_I'll be right there." he eventually called back to his mother while his father was bragging to a friend about him on the phone. _

_After a somewhat awkward dinner for the two brothers, Itachi decided to make up for it by promising Sasuke to help him train with taekwondo the very next day after school, which cheered the eight year old up considerably._

_In the end, Itachi couldn't stick to that as his father took him to a small social event with the sole reason of showing him off to other people. _

_Sasuke stayed home in his room all day, and wouldn't even come downstairs when his mother called._

"Sa-su-ke!" The handsome young man rolled his eyes at the nagging of his red-haired companion, who'd been trying to get his attention for a while now as they strutted through the park. "What do you think of my new skirt?"

"Karin, would you shut up about your clothes already? No one cares." Suigetsu snarled – one of the reasons Sasuke preferred him over the others. Jūgo was the more silent type, as he watched his surroundings. The Senju Park was usually a quite nice place to hang out, located in the center of the village, especially on a sunny day like this.

"Who asked you anything, shark-teeth?! I was talking to _Sasuke_!"

He was still trying to figure out why he was involved with these people. He supposed, somewhere, he liked the attention he otherwise never got anywhere else. All three of them seemed to idolize him in some way, and as opposed to the regular irritating fans in his class (Such as Sakura, Ino, Naruto and what have you) they were _far _more interesting, considering the connections they had to certain people.

Right now, they weren't exactly hanging out though. They were going towards their meeting spot. Sasuke searched the area as he came to a halt near a bench, and spotted the man they'd been looking for, standing inconspicuously near a few trees.

"There's Kabuto." Jūgo said, interrupting the quarreling between the other two as he too had seen the man.

"Was about damn time." Suigetsu huffed as they made their way over to him. He greeted the group with a smile.

"Excellent timing." he said while adjusting his glasses. "A few policemen just walked by too. You're lucky I decided to stay and wait."

"Do you have it?" Sasuke asked curtly, and Kabuto took a look around to make sure no one was nearby, and nodded once. He pulled out a small, white plastic bag, which Suigetsu took and hid in the inside pocket of his jacket. In turn, Karin swiftly handed him a few bills. Sasuke wondered what her idiot cousin would think if he saw them having this exchange right now. No doubt Naruto would cause a whole scene.

"A pleasure to do business with you, as always. But should you get tired of–"

"You already know my answer, Kabuto." Sasuke interrupted him, not interested in turning into an addict. Weed was one thing, cocaine was another.

"As you wish." he conceded, and took his leave. The four exchanged glances and left the Senju Park, crossing the street towards an old abandoned building nearby where they usually hung out. The three had convinced Sasuke to skip school. His grades had dropped over the years but they were still fine, and he'd started skipping classes more and more as school had utterly bored him. He no longer worked hard to gain his parents' approval, as he knew they wouldn't give a damn in the end and their eyes would always be on Itachi no matter what he did. So why not live a little and be selfish?

Suigetsu had the old lock on the door cracked within a few seconds and they all entered, climbing up the stairs until they reached the third floor in which they sat down. Karin pulled out the filter and some rolling paper from her pocket as Suigetsu took out the bag of cannabis, and a separate one filled with a little tobacco. Pure weed was a little too heavy. Karin always took it upon herself to roll the joints, and always let Sasuke take the first drag after lighting it for him.

He put the tip to his lips and inhaled, holding it for a few seconds before letting it out. A pleasant light-headedness struck him, though it was now only a mild sensation. The high took him off any bitterness or worries he'd have otherwise. It was his way of escaping. He handed the joint over to Suigetsu, as he leaned back a little. After a few minutes the area was filled with smoke and Karin had already rolled a second one. By this point, Sasuke was completely zoning out as he stared appreciatively at the wonderful patterns the smoke made in the air and the way the sunlight highlighted the air particles. So strange he didn't notice such things when he was sober.

"Oi, aren't your parents worried by now, though?" Suigetsu asked him, waking him up from his trance, as he blew out smoke with each word and then he handed the joint to Jūgo.

"They probably don't care either way." Sasuke muttered dully.

"What about your brother?" Jūgo asked. "He seems to be on your case a lot." Sasuke mulled over this for a while.

"Itachi can go to hell." he decided and Suigetsu snickered.

"But he's so handsome, he looks like an angel – and angels have to go to heaven." Karin sighed dreamily. Sasuke scowled at her. Even when they were high she managed to annoy him. "B-but you're still handsomer!" she added quickly when seeing the look on his face, and since she was sitting a step lower, she leaned her head on his knee. He pulled his leg back, making her fall on Suigetsu's lap who was sitting next to her, and he promptly stood up.

"Hey, where are you going?" Suigetsu asked as he shoved Karin away who went on a tirade.

"Outside." Sasuke merely replied as he got down the stairs. The other three exchanged glances and stumbled up – still somewhat dizzy from the high – and followed him as he left the building.

He loved taking silent walks, and when he was on the high it made everything so much more vivid and lively. Everything looked more beautiful, even food tasted better. People who passed him suddenly seemed a lot less annoying and his outlook on the world changed to a cheery one for just a short while. He was crossing the street when he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Sasuke!" Distracted and dazed, he turned around and saw his brother a few feet away – and he failed to notice the car racing towards him.

"Sasuke, look out!" Suigetsu yelled at him, pointing at the approaching danger. Normally, Sasuke would've easily gotten out of the way, but his reflexes had slowed considerably. Itachi had to step in and jerk him out of harm's way, making him trip and fall back onto the pavement.

Sasuke scrambled up to his feet, scowling at his older brother who was frowning deeply at him.

"What were you doing? You could've gotten injured." Itachi scolded him with a frustrated look, though he also seemed concerned.

"Whatever. What are you doing here?" Sasuke said dryly, not the least bit perturbed as his three "friends" stayed a distance away and watched them.

"You haven't showed up for school. I'm taking you home right now; mother has been worried sick over you."

"Oh, _sure_, worried about me, huh?" Sasuke drawled unimpressed. "For some reason, I… totally, totally doubt that." Itachi was a little puzzled at his odd behavior. He glanced at the three watching the exchange. Karin and Suigetsu immediately looked away, seeming nervous under his scrutinizing gaze. Only Jūgo didn't seem too intimidated.

"Just come home with me." Itachi told his younger brother, gesturing at the parked Volvo nearby.

"No." Sasuke replied with a taunting smirk. "Make me."

"Sasuke, you're acting strange." Itachi noted, and leaned closer.

"What? What are you doing?" Sasuke snarled, trying to push him away, but Itachi had already smelled the scent of the drug. His eyes widened.

"Weed?! Have you lost your mind?" Itachi hissed angrily, surprising Sasuke as his older brother usually never lost his cool. "Get in the car." he demanded in an icy tone.

"No way in hell!" Sasuke didn't care he was causing a scene by now, and Itachi saw he had no other choice but to use force. He sighed, and grabbed Sasuke by the arm, starting to drag him towards the car. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?! Let me go!" Itachi didn't respond as his brother started to struggle when he pulled the car door open. With swift and calculated movements, his older brother managed to trip him so he fell into the backseat of the car and promptly shut the door. Within a second he was in the driver's seat, and locked the doors. Sasuke glowered at him, and Itachi glanced at him over his shoulder, a disappointed look in his eyes.

"Don't stare at me like that." Sasuke growled, crossing his arms. "What I do is none of your business anymore. You moved out of the house."

"I'm still your brother. Put your seatbelt on." Itachi replied coldly, as he fastened his own and started the car. Sasuke refused to cooperate. "Fine. If I get a ticket it'll be out of your pocket." With this in mind, the younger one grudgingly put it on and Itachi drove away from the park, Sasuke glancing out the window to his friends who seemed befuddled.

"So what? That doesn't give you any power over me." he sneered at Itachi, who stopped in front of a red light.

"What are you saying?" Sasuke missed the dangerously dark tone in Itachi's voice he would've otherwise picked up.

"I'm saying that this stupid concept of _family _doesn't mean jack shi–"

The sound of a slap resounded firmly through the car and Sasuke was completely flustered at what had just happened. _Never _before had his brother ever laid a hand on him. It hadn't even been that hard of a slap, but it still shocked him completely.

"We're siblings and I care about you, Sasuke. I won't let you destroy yourself like this."

"It was just a little weed!" Sasuke stammered, starting to grow angry and the high was wearing off.

"I'm not talking about that!" Itachi snapped harshly, driving the car as the light turned green in front of them. "Your grades have dropped, you keep missing your classes, you're neglecting your real friends and at home you barely speak to mother and father anymore."

Sasuke crossed his arms and glared out the window, not saying another word. He knew once father found out what he'd been doing – and Itachi _would _tell him – all hell was going to break loose. Itachi sighed wearily.

"What am I to do with you, foolish little brother?"

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**And here the drama starts to unfold!**

**A huge thanks to everyone who was kind enough to review! It really helps me write and update faster, so I really appreciate it guys!**

**Hope you review again, and I'll see ya later!**

**-Cloud**


	3. More

"_Hey, Sasuke, let's go to the park!" Before the ten year old could even protest, his blond friend was already dragging him away from the school fence where he'd been waiting for his brother and towards the Senju Park which was only a few blocks away._

"_Naruto! Don't pull at Sasuke-kun like that!" the pink-haired menace accompanying them (at least, in Sasuke's eyes she was a menace) immediately yelled, and Naruto pouted. _

"_But Sakura-chan, I want to go to the park–"_

_Sasuke sighed as the two had their argument in which Naruto inevitably got an earful from Sakura who went on a tirade about "HER Sasuke-kun", which could be considered insulting since he was being objectified, but he was ten and he didn't really care about such things yet. He just wanted to go home. _

_He liked his friends, he did. They always paid a lot of attention to him, and had always been there for him, but it wasn't the kind of attention he wanted. Sakura only adored him because, apparently, he looked cute – just like almost all other girls her age – and Naruto saw him has nothing more than a rival to surpass, not giving a second thought about how hard Sasuke was actually trying to stay on top and why. _

_Neither of them realized how completely alone he felt at home, and how it had only gotten worse over the years. He rarely got any words of praise, and it was so frustrating, and it made his thoughts incoherent and made him hate and he didn't want to hate his brother, he didn't want to, because he really did love his brother but – but, what could he possibly do to get noticed? For someone, anyone, to look at him, really look at him and acknowledge him? Even his brother treated him like a child still, which only increased the scorn he felt towards him, even if he didn't want to feel such horrible feelings because he'd been nothing but kind and loving towards Sasuke–_

"_Naruto!" Sasuke heard the arguing stop when a female voice called, and the unlikely trio of friends turned around and saw a pretty lady with bright red hair standing near an expensive looking car. Naruto beamed, running towards his mother, Kushina Uzumaki. _

"_Mom! Mom, I got a B on my math test!" he announced proudly, pulling out the sheet from his pocket and showing the crumpled paper to his mother. She stared at it and smiled widely._

"_That's my boy! Great job, Naruto! Come on, I'll treat you to ramen!"_

"_But didn't dad say we could only eat it once a week since we eat so much?" Naruto asked. Kushina chuckled._

"_Then it'll be just our little secret, won't it?" she said with a wink, and Naruto grinned happily back at her. He turned around to his friends. "Do you wanna come too?" he asked. Sakura blinked._

"_Um, no thank you." she said, suddenly shy in Kushina's presence. Naruto looked hopefully at Sasuke, who'd watched the entire exchange. A pang of intense jealousy struck him, and he turned away. Why couldn't he have a family like that?_

_He was tempted to say yes, just to see what a real family was like, but from the corner of his eyes saw his brother walking towards them._

"_No, my brother is here." he answered a little glumly as his brother reached him and ruffled his hair as a greeting._

"_Alright. Hi, Itachi, how is Mikoto doing?" Kushina asked, as she was close friends with their mother. Itachi smiled politely as he answered._

"_Just fine, Kushina-san. She was wondering when you could organize that picnic you were talking about." _

"_Eh, well, this weekend, maybe? Ah, tell her to call me more often! Why do I always have to call her?" Kushina complained, seeming to be missing seeing her friend. Sasuke was not surprised. With father's busy job of keeping the village safe (and he did his job excellently) someone had to stay home and take care of the house. It could get tiring, doing almost all the groceries, laundry, cooking every day, and on top of that showing up for social events too. _

"_I'll be sure to tell her that." Itachi said with a polite nod, discreetly ignoring Sakura's love-struck gaze. _

"_Itachi! When can Sasuke stay over again?" Naruto asked._

"_Whenever he wants to." Itachi answered with a smile, looking at Sasuke who just scowled._

"_I'd just like to go home now." he mumbled, and started walking off already, ignoring the surprised and confused looks being sent his way. _

"_Bye, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called, but he ignored her, and Itachi caught up with him after saying a quick goodbye to Kushina and Naruto. Sasuke didn't glance up at his brother once, nor did he feel the need to communicate. Itachi sensed he didn't wish to talk and respected that by saying quiet as well – but Sasuke could see from his peripheral vision the frown on his brother's face, but didn't care anymore._

_The walk home was silent, and the resentment kept growing._

Mikoto immediately rushed to the front door when she heard the doorbell, opening it immediately. She let out a sigh of relief when seeing her youngest accompanied by his older brother.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you, mother. I was preoccupied by something." Itachi spoke calmly as he entered the house, followed by Sasuke who looked like he really didn't want to be there. Mikoto waited for him to take his shoes off, and then put her hands on her hips in that maternal fashion where once you saw it, you knew you were going to get scolded.

"What were you thinking?!" Sasuke looked away, not able to face her as Itachi stood at the end of the corridor near the living room doorway, watching carefully. "Do you realize how many hours of school you've already missed? Just wait until your father hears about this! You'll be in so much trouble, do you understand that?" She almost whirled around on her feet in motherly anger when he didn't respond, looking at Itachi instead. "Where did you find him?" Sasuke instantly snapped his head up to stare at his brother, who'd already opened his mouth to respond. But when he saw the pleading look in his little brother's eyes, in the end, he couldn't do it.

"He was at the mall." he lied with a perfectly smooth face. Smoking weed was definitely not right at such an age, but he also knew that once their mother told father, well, father might even lock him up in a jail cell for a night to teach him a lesson. He'd overreact. Itachi didn't think that was what Sasuke needed right now, so he took it upon himself to deal with this problem.

"The mall? Why?" Mikoto looked from her eldest to her youngest, and Sasuke folded his arms, glaring down at his feet once again.

"Just hanging out." His mother sighed again, this time out of frustration and not stress. She put her hands on his shoulders.

"Sasuke, look at me." she commanded, though in a gentle voice, and he reluctantly complied. "You can't do this. I overlooked it in the beginning because your grades were still perfect, but they've been on a steady decline and I don't want you to go on like this." He couldn't bear to look into his mother's sad eyes any longer, and looked away.

"I know." he muttered. She put a hand on his cheek, as if to comfort him, and he couldn't stand it.

"I called your father, and he should be on his way home right now." she then said, and Sasuke's eyes widened. He couldn't imagine what his father would do. Never before had either of his children done something like this. Sasuke pulled away from his mother's grip and immediately got upstairs, and heard Itachi follow him. He opened the door to his room and felt like slamming it in his brother's face, but Itachi held the door open for himself. Sasuke glared, but let him in nonetheless.

"We need to talk about this, Sasuke." Itachi said with a frown, closing the door behind him as the younger one sat down on his bed, glowering at his older brother. "Don't give me that look. You have no one but yourself to blame for this." Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"Is that so?" he snarled. Whatever high he'd felt half an hour ago had been completely ruined. "Of course it's all my fault! _Saint Itachi _can do no wrong, after all!" Itachi seemed genuinely surprised by this outburst.

"What is bothering you?" Sasuke promptly averted his gaze. "Sasuke–"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear you talk anymore."

"You owe me." Itachi pointed out, and he groaned. That was true, he did owe him for not ratting him out to his mother. "All I want for you to repay that debt is to stop smoking. I won't tell you to stop hanging out with those people, because you won't listen to me either way. But the drugs have to go. You understand that, don't you?" This sentence, the tone in which he'd said it, the look in his eyes – it made something in his head _snap _in two like a little twig.

"Do not patronize me, Itachi." Sasuke hissed, getting up from his bed with a furious look. "I'm not a child anymore, dammit! Stop treating me like one!" he yelled, not caring that his mother could hear this. Itachi was momentarily flustered, but kept his cool with a hard look in his eyes.

"I will, once you stop acting like one and learn from your mistakes." he replied so calmly it only made Sasuke angrier.

"You think you're so much better than me, because you're their favorite?!" he exclaimed. Itachi seemed a little befuddled by this.

"What are you talking about?" he questioned with a frown.

"Don't pretend like you don't know! You can never do any wrong in anyone's eyes, and it's goddamn infuriating! What makes you so perfect?! You're nothing but a suck up, always trying to _please _everyone – you don't even have a mind of your own! You're always doing what mother and father want, and it pisses me off! You're nothing more than a trophy for them to brag about, and I hate it! I hate everything you are!" Itachi stayed silent, a completely blank expression on his face, not even a hint of emotion left. There was a long, tense silence in which Sasuke glared at him for a very long time, before he slowly felt the guilt settle in as Itachi sighed.

"Is that what you really think of me?" he asked softly, a pained smile on his lips. Sasuke realized, once seeing the hurt look in his brother's eyes, that he'd made a mistake, and he wanted to take it all back, but no sound escaped from his lips. "I see. If that's what you really feel, it can't be helped." Itachi turned around without another sound, and left the room, closing the door behind him. Sasuke let himself fall down on his bed again and buried his face in his hands. Before long he heard his mother's voice, though he couldn't make up the words, and Itachi replied. After another few seconds, the sound of the front door opening and closing resounded through the house.

"I'm such an idiot." Sasuke whispered to himself, shaking his head, and he sat there, and he waited. He could only wait for the inevitable as he mulled over what he'd said. He didn't really feel that way, he knew Itachi was just the way he was. He wanted to make his parents happy, and enjoyed doing what he did. Sasuke knew that he wasn't just a puppet, and he could never hate him, and yet the words had flowed like the water from a fountain – and once the deed had been done it was far too late to take it back. He hadn't meant to hurt his brother like that, but he was tired of being treated like he was some ignorant kid who didn't know what he was doing and constantly needed help. He wanted Itachi to see him as an equal, not someone to be taken care of. He wanted his parents to acknowledge him, not take him for granted. Was that too much to ask for?

Eventually, his father arrived. Sasuke was called downstairs, and he didn't resist. He went down the stairs, where his mother was waiting for him, and walked past her into the living room, where his father was sitting on the couch.

"Sit down." he ordered in a monotonous voice, gesturing to the chair right across him.

He didn't know what he was expecting. A glare, a deep scowl, a hardened gaze, a disapproving look – anything that conveyed some sort of anger. He expected yelling, maybe even a slap. But when he sat down, and finally mustered up the courage to look up at his father's face, all he saw was sheer disappointment and sadness. He clutched at the fabric of his pants as he met his father's unwavering gaze. Fugaku sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead.

"Did you think you wouldn't be found out?" he questioned, and Sasuke tore his gaze away. "You used to be the best student in your entire school, Sasuke. What changed? Do you _want _to throw away your future? Is that it? Is this just a game to you?!" He heard the anger building up in his father's voice, but didn't respond, his eyes fixated on his knees.

"Honey, we just want what's best for you, and this isn't the way to go." he heard his mother tell him gently, and looked up.

The image he saw there almost made him laugh.

His mother had her hands on her husband's shoulders as she stood behind him while he was seated on the couch. Both of them gave Sasuke their undivided attention. They didn't look away, they didn't find something more important to do, they didn't talk about Itachi as they went on explaining to him how this was wrong, they didn't mention him even _once,_ and they went on to explain he'd get punished and that he was grounded for three weeks and they'd arrange a meeting with his principal and _the entire situation was fucking comical._

Was this what he had to do to get noticed? Get into trouble? He'd been a straight A student, he'd been the best in every sport he did in his age group, he'd always done everything his parents had told him to – and never had they given him this much attention before. This was ridiculous. This was absolutely laughable.

Yet, here they were. Even if they were scolding him, even if they'd punished for doing the wrong things, those things _had _given him the one thing he'd wanted – to be noticed.

Well, if that's what it took to get their attention, why not do it more often?

* * *

**Uh-oh. What's that silly Sasuke up to now?**

**I can't tell you how much I love all of your amazing, amazing reviews. I mean I wasn't even planning on releasing this one so soon but a surge of inspiration hit me when I saw the wonderful comments you guys had left me.**

**So there you go!**

**Also, a reviewer (I believe it was Silver Peak) remarked how most stories in this genre turn Fugaku into some abusive asshole, and I really hate it when that happens. The man is stern, but for god's sake people, he's not an alcoholic rapist child abuser!**

**Next chapter will involve side-characters a lot more, since I don't want to neglect them (since we now know what happens when you neglect people…).**

**Hope you review, and I'll see ya next time!**

**-Cloud. **


	4. Hopelessness

_It was his twelfth birthday. For the first time in years most of their family had gathered this time to celebrate it. Even their otherwise elusive uncles were present – though Mikoto had practically forced her two brothers to show up, complaining how they never visited enough, and Mikoto wasn't a woman you wanted to see upset. Though her angry moods were far quieter than say, Kushina's or Tsunade's, and for that same reason they were also a lot scarier. _

_So of course, when Mikoto had smiled at her youngest and asked him who he wanted to invite to his birthday party (because by God he was going to have a party – Itachi was already antisocial enough for the both of them) he quickly summed up a few people he could stand from his class. He even let Sakura's name slip by accident. _

_When his "big day" finally arrived, it was a beautiful summer day in July, and he and his friends were outside in the garden while the adults and other family members sat at the large table with snacks, drinks and other food they'd set up a few hours ago. In the end Sasuke had invited Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, Kiba, Gaara – hell, forget summing them all up; his entire class was there. They had ended up playing soccer, while some of the adults watched them and chatted amongst each other. Sasuke had to admit, it was a really nice day for him. He didn't have to hear anything about Itachi's successes, and all attention was focused on him. _

_He was in a team of four with Naruto, Kiba and Gaara, facing off against Shino, Shikamaru, Lee and Ch__ōj__i. The girls weren't interested in soccer and cheered them on from the sidelines. Gaara was an excellent goal keeper, but Kiba and Naruto tended to go rushing after the ball without thinking. For Shikamaru, this was an easy opening to exploit as he yelled directions at Lee, Shino and Ch__ōj__i from his goal. _

"_Come on, Sasuke-kun! You can do it!" Sakura yelled as he took the ball from Shino and ran towards Shikamaru's goal with Kiba right beside him. _

"_Go, go, Sasuke-kun!" Ino added to that, nearly jumping up and down._

"_BEAT HIM TO A BLOODY PULP, NARUTO! GET THAT BALL! TACKLE HIM AND KICK HIS ASS!" _

_Naruto groaned in embarrassment as his mother was right next to the two girls, screaming even louder as she made a fist pump in the air. Minato, who was seated at the table with the others rubbed the back of his head with an awkward smile. _

"_Er, honey, this is soccer, not martial arts. Besides, his teammate has the ball." he tried telling her, but as fired up as she was, Kushina didn't listen. He sighed and gave up, leaving her to her own devices as he continued the conversation he'd had with Fugaku. He was the mayor of the village after all, and even on occasions like these he felt the urge to check in with the chief of police. Others at the table – parents of the kids who were visiting such as Shikaku and Ch__ōza, __were having pleasant small talk as their children played. Sitting right next to them, Obito and Shisui were chatting with Itachi, who mostly had his eyes on his younger brother, and Izuna, who took the opportunity to catch up with the family. Madara, on the other hand, was getting scolded by Mikoto for not returning her phone calls._

"_You do realize I have a multi-million dollar corporation to run?" he said dryly, unfazed by her glaring. _

"_I'm just asking for a ten minute phone call." she replied with a frown, and he rolled his eyes. "Izuna calls all the time!"_

"_He's also a slacker." Madara retorted, and his brother turned to scowl at him._

"_Hey, don't get me involved in this." _

"_I showed up for Sasuke's birthday, didn't I?" he then added, ignoring Izuna's protest. Mikoto pursed her lips into a thin line, but then turned to the children who were playing. _

"_Sasuke! Time to open up your presents!" she called out, and the soccer match came to a halt. Sasuke frowned disappointedly, having just been about to score a point. Naruto had to practically drag him to the table, as the boy wasn't interested in his presents but his blond friend was – though it was mostly because of curiosity. The presents, of different shapes and sizes, were wrapped in a wide array of different colored papers. Of course Ino and Sakura were already fighting over who got to give Sasuke his present first. The young boy watched them for a while, then turned to Naruto who held out his present with a wide smile. _

"_Here ya go, basta- OW! Mom!"_

"_Don't cuss in public, you little brat!" _

_Minato just gave up on them at that point._

_Naruto handed Sasuke the small, slim box wrapped in red paper, while rubbing the back of his head, where his mom had hit him, with a frown. Sasuke blinked, wondering if this was what he thought it was – lo and behold, indeed it was! The oh so popular video game, Ninja Storm, right in his very hands. He thanked his best friend with the happiest smile he felt he'd had in a long time, and the rest of the gifts followed. It included simple things like a box of chocolates, a bouquet of beautiful and flowers which were hard to find, a collection of beautifully framed butterflies and things like that. When the guests had all finished, it was his family's turn. _

_Madara got him a shiny, razor sharp pocket knife ("What? You can never be too prepared. Mikoto, stop glaring at me."), which had his family's symbol engraved on its pure black handle._

_ Izuna had bought him a whole wardrobe worth of new clothes, apparently not knowing what else to do with all that money, and Shisui had gotten him an expensive and very new game as well – this one a first person shooter. Mikoto disapproved because of all the blood and gore involved in such a game, but for once his father dismissed it and let him have the game. _

_Then Obito had gotten him a brand new mp4 player, which he especially appreciated since his old mp3 had broken down a week ago. Itachi's turn. It was the most simple present; a black, thick notebook, the type which looked like it was commonly used as some sort of journal. At first glance, Sasuke wasn't sure what to think of it, until he opened it and discovered someone had already written something on the very first page. It was his brother's handwriting, and it seemed to be a personal letter addressed to him. _

_While shoving a much too nosy Naruto away and keeping him at a safe distance, the young boy read over his brother's words without letting anyone – not even his own parents – see what was written. _

_He smiled._

Itachi wasn't sure what to think anymore.

He'd left the house after hearing Sasuke's little tirade, and was completely split over it. On one hand, he knew very well his emotions had gotten the best of his younger brother and he'd spoken without thinking. On the other, he wasn't sure whether Sasuke let out his true feeling or whether he'd just said something with the intent to hurt him. Itachi sincerely hoped it was the latter.

He'd headed home, in the moment feeling quite horrible over what had been said, though he'd had time to think about it – even if the very next morning he still didn't know what had been behind the outburst. As he slowly got up from his bed, taking his time to stretch his stiff limbs, he pondered what had gone wrong over the years. The sun had barely risen by the time he was in the bathroom, taking off his clothes and stepping into the shower. His first college class wouldn't start in four hours, but he couldn't sleep anyway. His family was slowly falling apart and he had to think of a way to fix it – if he could only figure out the cause, it would be so much easier.

Sasuke, even when he'd been far younger, had never been a particularly cheery kid. He'd been pretty quiet, though always very chatty when around his older brother. Sasuke had always looked up to him, and though Itachi had gathered he'd probably also been envious of the attention the older child got from their parents, it had never been a real issue. Then, somewhere around his thirteenth year, _something _had gone wrong. In his twelfth year there had been more tension between them than usual, but Itachi figured it was natural – Sasuke was starting to grow into puberty, after all. But ever since he'd been thirteen, it had far surpassed a simple hormone-induced grumpiness. It was genuine hate, almost. Such deep-rooted loathing couldn't just be dismissed as a typical teenager thing, not with Sasuke. Itachi knew his brother very well, and it simply wasn't like him.

He went through all the major events in Sasuke's thirteenth year as he washed his hair, the steam the hot water created fogging up the glass windows surrounding the shower. There were a few instances of broken promises that had led to heated arguments, but they'd never been big enough to trigger such a drastic change in behavior. Then again, it could've been the result of cumulative disappointment over the years. Itachi was sure _that _was a factor, but it couldn't be the only one.

Ha narrowed his eyes as he remembered one particular instance in which he'd seen Sasuke talking to one particular teacher after school as Itachi had arrived to pick him up. Orochimaru. Itachi had followed his chemistry classes in the past, and knew the man tended to play favorites. He'd always given Itachi more attention than the other students in the class – far more than was considered normal. It had irritated him at the time, and he'd simply brushed it aside and eventually Orochimaru had given up. Sasuke however – he could've been far more susceptible to such overwhelming consideration.

He was done showering and turned the shower knobs, shutting down the water and stepping out, grabbing a towel from the towel rack on the wall, drying his body as he thoughts about it. Everyone in the village knew Orochimaru had some _questionable _contacts. There were plenty of rumors, and he was being suspected of criminal activities, though there had never been enough evidence to prompt a police investigation.

Orochimaru could've influenced Sasuke. He could've even started isolating him from his family and friends – intentionally or not. Itachi decided to pay his old teacher a visit when he had the time.

Once he'd gotten dressed he had a short breakfast consisting of mostly cornflakes and fruit. His apartment was always rather quiet, and though he mostly preferred it that way, sometimes it could feel a little disquieting. Not knowing what to do with himself for the next few hours as he didn't have any classes yet, he decided to go out and get some fresh air – maybe stop by a café and get some coffee.

He put on his shoes, grabbed the keys and left. The streets were mostly quiet. It was Friday after all and most people had to work or go to school in the morning. He decided to take a walk in the park, though his thoughts were starting to annoy him more and more. He needed some company to distract him for at least a little while. Unfortunately, the park was even more deserted than the streets were.

Like a knight in shining armor – or most likely through pure coincidence – he saw a familiar face walking towards him with a pack of dogs, most likely letting them out. The dogs were playing and running amongst each other, their owner not paying much attention and reading an adult and popular novel as he walked. The man however looked up for a moment and spotted Itachi, and raised his hand as a greeting.

"Yo, Itachi-san. Fancy meeting you here. Don't you have any classes?" the masked man said once they were close enough.

"Not yet. I felt like taking a walk." Itachi answered him simply, ignoring one of the dogs sniffing him. He and Kakashi were acquainted through their mutual practicing of martial arts – not to mention the older man had taught his younger brother. At times the two of them had hit it off in a friendly match, and had become good friends.

"How is Sasuke doing? I haven't seen him in a while." Kakashi asked as they started walking into the same direction now. Itachi mostly watched the dogs as he answered.

"Not much has changed. In fact, dare I say it's gotten worse?" he felt the older man's gaze fixated on him.

"Worse, huh?" Kakashi was one of the few who knew the situation, and also seemed rather concerned for the boy. "Maybe I should swing by and have a talk with him."

"Hn. I doubt it would make a difference."

"Is it fair for me to assume from your cynical tone that he yelled at you again?" Kakashi asked dryly, and Itachi sighed.

"Something like that." He stayed silent for a moment as he watched his friend pick up a stick from the ground, and throw it far away. The dogs immediately set chase, each trying to get to the stick first. "I caught him doing drugs." He glanced over at his companion and saw his one visible eye widen. The other was sealed shut because of a scar that had permanently damaged it, and he'd refused getting a fake one because he thought it just looked silly. The lower part of his face had always been hidden by a mask for as far as Itachi could remember.

"Did Fugaku tie him up throw him in a dungeon him yet?"

"I'm sure the thought crossed his mind." Kakashi shook his head.

"He's completely lost the way, it seems." Itachi stayed silent as that, and his friend noticed the morose atmosphere hanging around him. "Well, enough talk about that. How about we swing by a café for a drink?" he suggested, and Itachi nodded, appreciating the effort. There was one right across the park, and Kakashi decided to let the dogs stay – they'd be fine, being the independent pack they were.

To their surprise, they spotted a few of their others friends already seated there on an extra large table, though it was a rowdy bunch. Anko, it seemed, was teasing Asuma about him dating Kurenai, which he didn't seem to appreciate much. On the other hand, it seemed Kisame was caught right in the middle of Hidan yelling at a mostly indifferent Kakuzu, and Guy trying to explain to him the benefits of making a hundred laps around the village every day – fifty during dawn, fifty at midnight.

It was morning, and they were already at it. Itachi felt sorry for the employees of the café.

"Look at what the cat dragged in!" Anko exclaimed when spotting the two of them, as the group stopped and welcomed the two.

Itachi suddenly wasn't sure this was a good idea.

"Eh? Why the hell aren't you at school?" Hidan asked Itachi, as he and Kakashi each grabbed a chair and joined the group.

"He has no classes, obviously." Kisame answered.

"What? He could be ditching!" Hidan responded in his defense, which made Anko burst out into a fit of chuckled.

"Itachi the Flawless – ditching classes? No way." At this, Itachi frowned.

"I'm not–"

"Oh, save it. You're perfect and you damn well know it." She then turned to Asuma again. "Now, where were we? Did you get a home-run yet?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively and he groaned.

"What I do in my private time doesn't concern you, Anko, so please stop." the man huffed.

"He nailed her on the first date. I'm calling it. Place your bets, place your bets!" Hidan declared.

"Nah, it would've been on the third one." Kakashi dismissed. "He likes to hold out a while."

"Are you sure about that? The last woman he was with started stalking him after their first date." Kisame reminded him.

"I'm sitting _right here_." Asuma protested.

"There is no shame in admitting it, my friend! If anything you should be proud to have made her blood pumping with love–"

"Guy, stop it. Please, enough."

"I'll say he still hasn't done anything." Kakuzu spoke up, which caused the rest of the company (minus Itachi and Asuma) to look at him with suspicion.

"Hey, do you know something we don't, old guy?" Anko questioned with a scowl.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, you do always win your bets." Kisame pointed out.

At this point, Asuma just sighed and rubbed his forehead, giving up on talking them into leaving him alone. Itachi was mildly amused as the others kept debating how far the man had gotten with his current lover, but then looked at Anko, remembering she too had been a very prized student of Orochimaru. Perhaps she would know something that could help him figure out what had gone wrong? The minute he opened his mouth to address her, however, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered it without even checking for caller ID.

"Hello? Is this Itachi Uchiha?" He recognized Iruka Umino's voice – Sasuke's home room teacher. He already had a bad feeling about this.

"Yes, that's me." he answered simply.

"Ah, good! I'm sorry for the sudden call, Itachi-san, but your mother didn't pick up the phone and I didn't exactly wanted to call your father yet."

"Is Sasuke in trouble?" he asked, not wanting to delay the inevitable news. All eyes around the table were now locked on him. There was a short silence on the other end.

"Yes, quite a lot of trouble, actually."

"What happened this time?"

"He… well, he started a fight. It's quite serious, but I'd rather not get the police involved. I'd appreciate it if you could head over if you have the time."

Itachi breathed a tired sigh, the feeling of complete hopelessness with the entire situation settling in his gut as he stood up from his seat.

"I'll be there in a few minutes."

* * *

**Bad Sasuke! Very, very bad!**

**Tune in next chapter to find out who Sasuke kicked the living crap out of! Also, maybe a little hint as to what Oro has to do with all of this :D**

**Major thanks to all my reviewers and followers, I'm loving all your support! **

**See ya next time!**

**-Cloud**


	5. Sensei

"_Sasuke! Oi!" Naruto waved at his best friend who'd just gotten out of the line for food with his tray, coolly scanning the area for a place to sit. The blond Namikaze boy smirked at him when their eyes locked, and for a moment, it seemed like he was about to walk over. Suddenly a white haired boy walked up to him and slung an arm over his shoulder, and steering him away to another table. Naruto scowled, recognizing his cousin's friend, Suigetsu. Why Karin still hung out with him was perhaps one of the greater mysteries of his young life, but not greater than the question as to why Sasuke of all people had decided to get involved with them._

_Don't misunderstand, Naruto loved his cousin, but she was batshit – plain and simple. Suigetsu was just as weird, only in a less violent and more snarky way. Jūgo seemed to be the only normal one out of the three, and even he was known for having anger issues._

_Naruto glanced at Sakura, who was sitting across him and seemed just as bemused as he was. What had prompted this sudden change in their friend? Lately it almost seemed like he was avoiding them, and it was frustrating. Or more specifically, ever since he started hanging out with that group of his. All four of them had gotten almost a gang name – Hebi, alluding to the fact they were Orochimaru's favorite students, and no one could deny the creepy teacher had a fascination with snakes._

"_We should talk to him." Sakura said, biting her lower lip as she watched Karin fawn over Sasuke for the nth time. Naruto, noticing her gloomy mood, quickly amended to fix that._

"_Leave it to me, Sakura-chan! I'll drag him back to his senses!" Naruto reassured her with a bright smile, and the girl nodded, already feeling a little better. If there was anyone who could get Sasuke to listen, it was either his brother or Naruto._

_After school, the Namikaze boy nearly sprinted out of his classroom, ignoring the scolding his homeroom teacher had attempted to give him for falling asleep in class – since Shikamaru was doing it too, then why couldn't he? – and searching for his best friend among the crowd of students._

"_Hey, Sasuke!" he yelled when spotting the unmistakably unique black hair a few feet away near a locker. He pushed a few people aside, and the other merely glanced._

"_What do you want, loser?"_

"_What's up with you lately, bastard?!" Naruto snapped, though still glad their regular greeting of loser-bastard had not been forgotten. Sasuke rolled his eyes, closing his locker and lazily slinging his backpack over one shoulder._

"_I don't know what you're talking about." the Uchiha boy responded dryly as he started to walk away, Naruto right beside him with a deep scowl._

"_Bullshit, you've been ditching me and Sakura-chan for like weeks now for those three jerkasses! What the hell?!"_

"_I don't have time to spend on little kids anymore." Sasuke sneered, and Naruto's eyes widened slightly._

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke halted for a moment and glared coldly at him, his hands sliding in the pockets of his jackets._

"_Exactly what it sounds like."_

"_Sasuke-kun!" Karin called from the end of the hall, accompanied by the other two members of the "gang". Sasuke glanced at the dumbstruck blond, before he proceeded to walk away – though Naruto wasn't about to let him go that easily. He snatched Sasuke's jacket and nearly slammed him against the lockers. For most, this would seem like a rough gesture, but the two boys were used to much rougher. Being thrown against metal was like a little tap on the shoulder for them._

"_You're just dumping us, like that, and for those guys?!" Naruto growled as the other glowered at him, attempting to pry his hands off the jacket. "What the fuck has gotten into you?! You know damn well what kinda rep they have! You're… you're not involved into something, are you?" The anger in Naruto's voice slowly faded to an insecure tone, which only pissed his best friend off. Sasuke slapped his hands away and shoved him back._

"_Leave me alone, Namikaze." he snarled. "What I do in my private time doesn't concern you anymore." With that, he promptly turned his back on him and stalked off. Naruto blinked as he watched Sasuke walk away, joining his new "friends", who snuck some glances in his direction. No doubt Karin was going to give him hell later for manhandling her "poor Sasuke-kun", but he didn't really care at the moment – there was a far more important question nagging at him in the back of his mind._

_Had he just lost his best friend?_

Sasuke sucked on his buster upper lip, though it failed to stop the blood. He might even need to get it stitched as it stung and he couldn't see how he was going to eat with this. He had a distinct bruise on his jaw – not a hickey, as some girls had somehow mistaken it for – which didn't hurt that much, though he was sure it would later. The back of his head ached slightly, but he doubted it was a concussion, though it did feel he'd nearly broken a rib or two. He was seated in his homeroom class, confronted with his teacher, Iruka, and the principal of the school, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He didn't care much for either of them.

Iruka had already attempted to give him a lecture, but had given up once he saw the disinterested look in Sasuke's eyes was pretty much impenetrable. Principal Sarutobi, however, was a lot wiser and had not even said a word to Sasuke. This was, he had to admit, disquieting. Was the old man plotting something of the sort? They'd already called Itachi – which was going to be hell – so what else could they do? Suspend him? Expel him? Gladly; he'd gotten sick of this stupid little school anyway.

He hadn't planned for this situation, though. It just so happened the opportunity presented itself in the form of Deidara, and so he took the shot. It was a well-known fact that the senior harbored some sort of grudge against Sasuke for something his brother did, and had always tried to get him into trouble. This time, Sasuke had humored him. After all, if even his parents didn't care about good behavior, why should he?

He sighed, leaning back into his seat as he stared out the window while his teacher and principal discussed something amongst themselves. His eyes narrowed when he spotted Itachi's car. He observed it for a while, watched his brother get out and lock it, but quickly averted his gaze when Itachi looked up at the building in his direction. It didn't take him long to get to the classroom. A soft knock, and the door opened. Sasuke then immediately noticed Itachi looked tired now he was closer. The older sibling shot him only a glance, and he couldn't blame him. What he'd said to him yesterday had been completely insensitive and careless. Sasuke glared at the table, refusing to meet anyone's eyes as Itachi greeted the two other adults in the room and asked about the situation.

Iruka started explaining that Sasuke had gotten into a "scuffle" (more like a brawl) with Deidara. While Sasuke had gotten off relatively well, Deidara had a black eye, a broken rib, several bruises and cuts all over and possibly even a concussion as Sasuke had ended the fight by shoving him down the stairs without a moment's hesitation. He ended up being taken to the hospital.

The strange thing was, Sasuke didn't give a _shit_. He would've thought he would feel some amount of guilt after seeing the disappointed look in his brother's eyes, but he just didn't care anymore. He didn't care about Itachi's approval anymore.

This was such a sudden revelation it showed on his face for just a moment.

He really didn't care.

"Sasuke, let's go." Itachi spoke coolly. Not another word, not even another look. Iruka seemed rather baffled that the boy wasn't being scolded at, but the principal seemed to have expected it. Sasuke, however, didn't miss the small exchange – Hiruzen nodded once to Itachi, who acknowledged this with a nearly unnoticeable nod of his own.

Sasuke got up from his seat, snatching his bag off the ground and following his brother as they left the classroom. They walked through the mostly empty corridors (most students in the middle of classes) with nothing being said between them. Sasuke didn't care to ask about his brother's silence, nor did Itachi care to lecture him considering his parents would do that for him. Anything he said to him now would probably fall on deaf ears anyway.

"Oh? This is a rare sight."

Had Itachi been a lesser man, he would've cursed under his breath at hearing that voice. The two brothers halted, turning around to face the eccentric teacher whom had just left his own classroom. Orochimaru smiled – and his smiles always held something ever so unpleasant, like bugs crawling under your skin – as he approached his (former) students.

"Sensei," Sasuke greeted him monotonously, not particularly interested in a chat at the moment.

"My, my, Itachi-kun, I didn't think I'd see you walking around these halls again. I heard your little brother is in quite a bit of trouble."

'_Typical,_' Sasuke thought with a light scowl. Itachi was even Orochimaru's favorite out of the two of them – not like he was _that _taken in with where his teacher's preferences lied. It was only rather frustrating.

"It would appear so." Itachi confirmed, regarding the older man with cold eyes. Orochimaru chuckled at his steely gaze.

"No need to be so aloof, now. I do recall you were my best student, after all."

"Hn." Sasuke suppressed an amused smile. Whenever Itachi pulled out _that _typically Uchiha-esque grunt, it was a warning that his patience was wearing thin and he wasn't interested in whatever you had to say. Orochimaru knew this as well, and cut clear to the chase.

"I think Sasuke-kun will have to be punished, no? Seeing as how he is a prized student of mine, perhaps you'd consider making him help me with some after school activities, instead of getting expelled."

"Expelled?"

"You know there is a zero tolerance policy on fighting on school grounds, Itachi-kun. You'd be wise to consider it." Sasuke carefully watched his brother's reaction, and saw his eyes narrow ever so slightly.

"I don't think it will be needed; I doubt Sarutobi-sama would go that far." Orochimaru seemed somewhat displeased with this. "Though, I appreciate your offer."

"Why can't I choose?" Sasuke remarked sharply, getting angry with his brother making all the decisions for him. "I'm the one being punished, and if there's another option, I'll take it." Why not? Orochimaru was the one who'd introduced him to weed after all – even if he never gave it directly out of caution. Wouldn't want to lose his job, after all. Nevertheless, this "punishment" would give him much easier access – his promise to Itachi was worth nothing anymore – and perhaps he could even experiment with some other things. Why not? What did he have to lose? Who would even give a damn if he ended up being an addict – as long as _Itachi _was safe and sound?

He was then, however, quite stunned by the silent rage in Itachi's eyes.

"This is not up for debate – mother and father will decide your punishment in agreement with the school, not merely one teacher." Itachi shot a subtle glare in Orochimaru's direction. "We'll be leaving now. Come." He didn't even check to see whether Sasuke was following him – and didn't need to. Sasuke knew better than to test his brother when he was in such a mood. He shot one last glance at Orochimaru before he followed.

The ride home was completely quiet and very tense. Needless to say Sasuke was starting to hate this car. He'd glance at his brother every now and then, but Itachi was fixated on the road and wouldn't respond.

When they'd both gotten outside once arriving at their location and then walked towards the house, Itachi suddenly stopped, Sasuke nearly bumping into him. Annoyed, the younger one took a step back.

"Why did you do it?" he asked, the furious glare having dimmed and turned into one of weariness and disappointment. Sasuke scowled at the ground, refusing to answer. As if _he _could ever understand– "Why did you think gaining attention this way would make a difference?" His head snapped up and he gazed at Itachi with wide eyes. How had he known that?

"I wasn't doing it for the attention." Partly true; he'd been mainly doing it to vent frustration. Itachi rubbed his forehead, staying silent a few seconds as if recollecting his thoughts before he responded.

"You're better than this."

_Snap _went the cord of sanity in his head.

"Shut up!" Sasuke yelled furiously, lashing out with a strong fist. Itachi was startled for a moment, but quickly caught his hand, twisting the arm around his back. It had been a very spontaneous punch – one fueled by anger, and thus easily countered. Sasuke growled in frustration, struggling for a whole minute until he finally gave up. He heard Itachi sigh wearily behind him.

"Calmed down now?" Sasuke gritted his teeth, refusing to respond, but he was let go nonetheless. He spun around on his feet to face Itachi, glaring daggers at him, to which he seemed completely apathetic towards. For a moment, Itachi opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, but seemed to change his mind. "You should get inside. I need to get to class in an hour, so I'll call father and tell him of the situation later." With one last look, Itachi turned around and left, leaving Sasuke behind once again.

As he got back into his car, he knew he should've said something – appealed to his reason, perhaps even his emotion, and yet he didn't. He didn't feel like Sasuke could handle that, and instead of bettering himself would probably make more mistakes. Perhaps he should stop treating him like a child, and yet he couldn't let that image of him go. He sighed and shook his head, starting up the car again.

Meanwhile, when Sasuke got home, you can imagine his mother being almost in a panic when seeing her son in such an injured state. He brushed her off, stating he was just fine, but she was relentless and in the end he admitted that he got into a fight. He didn't say with who and that he'd initiated it – but she was much too concerned about his well-being, studying the little cuts and single bruise on his face with a worried look.

Pang – there came the guilt.

He buried it under his anger.

Still Itachi insisted on treating him like a little kid. Still he looked down on him. Who did he think he was, some sort of saint?!

"Mother," Sasuke asked slowly, calculating, not even caring he was sliding more and more off towards the deep-end, "I'd like to help Orochimaru-sensei with a few after school activities, as a punishment. I regret starting that fight, and I'd rather not get suspended, so he offered me another option." His mother bit her lip, not sure what to think. Of course she was convinced that some _other _person had started the fight. Sure, Sasuke had been not too good of a student, but he was still her little angel. She was utterly convinced he could never be so reckless to initiate a fight. Besides, even if a little _eccentric_, Orochimaru was still a fine teacher.

"Yes, that… that sounds like a good idea." she said softly, nodding as she put a tissue on Sasuke's injured lip. He pushed her hand away for a moment.

"Can you talk to father for me? He'll probably don't want to listen to what I have to say." he murmured quietly, and seeing such a depressed look in his eyes broke her heart.

Of course she couldn't have known it was fake.

"Of course; don't you worry about anything, sweetheart. It'll be alright." she cooed, and he smiled – once again, fake. She couldn't see through it. When she turned around to throw the bloodied tissue away, Sasuke turned around and walked upstairs, a small satisfied smirk forming on his face.

He was not going to let Itachi have his way.

* * *

**Le fin, for now!**

**So uh… more Oro-time in the future. Probably not a very good thing, for Sasuke, anyhow.**

**Thanks to all my amazingly amazing reviewers, and also thanks to everyone who fave'd and is following this story! I'm very glad to see so many people enjoy it!**

**Reviews are, like always, appreciated!**

**-Cloud**


	6. Towards destruction

'_July 20, 2008_

_To my beloved little brother,_

_Happy birthday. I hope you had the opportunity to enjoy your birthday party which mother no doubt insisted on throwing for you. I__'__m writing this letter about three days before your birthday, in case you__'__re wondering. Finding a fitting present for you proved to be rather difficult at first; I__'__m well aware of how picky you are after the last eleven birthday parties we had. You don__'__t like extravagance, and you appreciate thoughtfulness and something practical, and so I got you this. _

_No, Sasuke, this is not a diary. I recall mother giving you one when you were seven and you attempted to put it through father__'__s paper shredder __–__ then again, the pink cover might__'__ve been a little too unforgiving. This book is yours to do with whatever you wish. If you want, you may use it as a journal, for your studies, or not use it at all. It__'__s up to you._

_Perhaps I__'__ll sound like mother when I say this, but you__'__ve truly grown up far too quickly. No longer do you cling to my arm and ask me to take you to the park to play with that carefree smile. I must admit I miss those days, even if I haven__'__t been the best older brother. I am fully aware of how many promises I couldn__'__t keep. Exactly twenty-five. Yes, I__'__ve kept count, and I intend to make it up to you __–__ all twenty-five of those missed opportunities. If you don__'__t believe me, you can ask me personally to sum up all of them. I fear you may be under the false impression that I don__'__t care about such things, but I assure you, my dearest little brother, that not being able to keep my word to you has hurt me just as much as it did you, and for that, I am truly sorry._

_You__'__re twelve now, and you__'__re starting to grow into a fine young man. I suppose this is the moment where I__'__d tell you I think you__'__ll do our family proud, but family pride is such a petty little thing, so I ask you to forget about that. Forget about mother and father__'__s expectations as well. You__'__re more than intelligent enough to carve your own path through life, and I have faith that you__'__ll make the right decisions. Do what you feel will make you happiest, because seeing you smile makes me smile as well. I think it__'__s a little selfish of me, in a way, but I want nothing but the best for you in life. _

_You have wonderful friends and are surrounded by people who love you every day. I__'__d like to say I love you the most, but I__'__m not sure I can compete with mother. I envy you, Sasuke. One could say you draw people to you like bees are drawn to honey. You__'__ve been the best little brother I could__'__ve ever hoped for, but I haven__'__t been the best older brother in turn. _

_You don__'__t have to forgive me for that. No matter what you decide from now on, I will love you forever._

_Your foolish older brother,_

_Itachi.__'_

How long had it been since he'd read this letter? The notebook had been forgotten, buried under stacks of old books in the corner of his room. It looked entirely untouched by time, his brother's elegant handwriting staring up at him expectantly, the date scribbled on the top with tiny letters, as if it was waiting for an answer. In the end, he hadn't used it. He hadn't been able to bring himself to stain such a perfect gift with his own silly thoughts – and heaven forbid if he dared writing down anything related to school in such a personal notebook.

He didn't even know why he'd pulled it out to look at it. He supposed it was his way of letting go, or at least, he'd intended to let go. He'd intended to… well, he didn't actually know. His mind was just a whirlwind of frustration and reckless defiance. Rebelliousness, perhaps the typical teenager phase – and yet it felt justified. Everything angered him and nothing seemed worth it anymore. _Almost _nothing. He'd believed he could just cut the bond with his brother with one simple letter; what a silly thought.

Three days ago, on the day he'd not so politely shoved Deidara off the stairs, he'd rediscovered this notebook as he had run upstairs after convincing his mother to let him take chores from Orochimaru-sensei as a punishment. Then his father had come home. To say the conversation had been unpleasant was an understatement. Fugaku had gotten a lot angrier than last time, especially considering this had just been two days after he'd been caught skipping school. It had led to a _very _heated argument, and in the end, Sasuke had said something he shouldn't have which had earned him a firm slap in the face. His mother had managed to calm her husband down, had explained that Sasuke wanted to make it up by helping out his 'esteemed' teacher every day after school as a punishment. Fugaku had remained silent for a while, but had eventually (though brusquely) agreed, and had sent Sasuke to his room.

The fight hadn't affected him as much as he'd thought it would have. Sure, the slap had stung and hurt him psychologically as well, but he'd been pleased with himself in a way. They'd proved him right; his father had spent two whole hours lecturing him and scolding him. Such attention he would've never paid to him if he'd continued on being the perfect student and son.

The following day, after he'd been indefinitely grounded, when he showed up to school there were more than a few issues involved. The first was a run-in with his old kendo teacher, Kakashi Hatake, on his way to school.

"Yo, Sasuke." Aforementioned boy grimaced, glaring at the man as if threatening to bite his hand off if he came closer. Kakashi subtly ignored this warning and (completely uninvited, mind you) decided to walk him to school. "I've heard you've gotten in some trouble lately." Sasuke stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket, glaring ahead of him. While he did still respect his old sensei, right now the man was nothing more than _another _adult trying to tell him what to do. It was maddening.

"I don't see how that's any of your business anymore." Sasuke grunted at him, to which Kakashi's one visible eye narrowed slightly.

"Now, now, have you forgotten all the delightful hours at the dojo?"

"You mean those times you beat me up to hell and back?"

"If that's how you want to put it, yes. But we both know you were the one who insisted on continuing."

"I was a kid, and also a stubborn idiot."

"_Was_?"

"Kakashi, if you're here to make fun of me, you might as well leave." Sasuke snapped irately, not in the mood to be toyed with as he came to a halt and turned to the older man, who stopped as well but seemed completely unfazed by Sasuke's anger.

"Oh? No more Kakashi-_sensei_? That's kind of harsh, Sasuke-_kun_."

Infuriating. This man was infuriating.

"You–" Kakashi quickly raised his hands when a string of cusswords threatened to escape Sasuke's mouth.

"Easy there. I see that at the very least, your temper hasn't changed." Sasuke frowned at this remark, not even caring he was starting to get late for his first class. Kakashi sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know what you're thinking lately, Sasuke, but I advise you to stop. This behavior is only going to hurt yourself the most in the long run, and if you don't care about that, then do it for your family's sake."

"I see how it is. Itachi coerced you into doing this, didn't he? It's not going to work so give up." Sasuke snarled, his patience wearing thin. The early sunlight irritated his eyes as he turned away and started walking once again, passing by several hurried people who were no doubt heading for work as well. It was always busy in the morning, and lots of villagers walked instead of taking the car – mostly because of the amazing weather and because the town wasn't all that large.

"I'm here as a friend, Sasuke. Itachi has nothing to do with this." Kakashi probably realized his words didn't have any effect and frowned slightly. "At the very least, think about what I said. Now, if I were you, I'd hurry. You wouldn't want to run late for Tsunade's class, would you?"

Before Sasuke could even ask how the stalker knew about his schedule, he froze.

Coming late to _Tsunade's _class was practically a death sentence.

After an incredible sprint to school (many saw a blur of black zooming past them) while Kakashi's laughter followed him to his class all the way, he managed to come in just four seconds before the bell would ring. Tsunade eyed him somewhat annoyed, but he internally smirked, knowing he'd defeated the demonic geography teacher, and then froze for a second time – realizing the only seat empty was right next to–

"Sasuke?" Blue eyes widened in surprise as the young Uchiha grudgingly sauntered over to the empty seat next to his _former _best friend, who seemed rather flabbergasted at his appearance. He felt over a dozen pair of eyes on his back but ignored them, dropping onto the seat without giving the blond next to him even another glance. Naruto, surprisingly, stayed silent for the first fifteen minutes of class as Tsunade began talking some nonsense about immigration, and Sasuke gradually allowed himself to relax.

It pained him that he couldn't say he hated the Namikaze boy – that just made this whole situation rather awkward. Naruto, of course, still hadn't given up on trying to convince him to ditch the current group he was hanging out with, and up to now, obviously, all his attempts had failed miserably. Sasuke allowed himself a subtle glance in Naruto's direction after another three minutes had passed, and nearly froze for the second time that day as he realized the other had been staring at him the entire time. He gritted his teeth in annoyance, promptly turning his head away. What did that loser still want from him? Hadn't he been clear enough in the past?

"Hey, Sasuke, I–"

"No." Sasuke automatically snapped, and Naruto scowled at him.

"I was just going to ask if you had an extra pen, you bastard–"

"Namikaze!" Tsunade snapped, interrupting their conversation when the loser had inevitably gotten loud.

"S-sorry." She glared a while longer, then returned to her lecture. Sasuke suppressed a chuckle and instead took some notes from the chalkboard out of boredom, barely taking in any of the information written there. Then, he realized Naruto was staring again. Dammit, it really wasn't going to end. Reluctantly, he threw him a pen – which promptly hit Naruto's forehead as he hadn't been expecting that – allowing himself a little more amusement at the blond's expense as he watched him flounder in his seat and then glower at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"You're slow." Sasuke responded coolly – already hearing his fangirls swooning over such a trivial gesture.

Needless to say, when his own pen hit him right back on the cheek, he fumed. Naruto smirked widely in triumph.

"That's what you get for being cocky." The Namikaze declared rather smugly. Before Sasuke could even realize they'd so easily fallen back into their old routine – which had also been the reason why he'd avoided Naruto so heavily in the first place, so that it would be easier to sever the bond – he smacked Naruto bluntly over the head with his rather heavy textbook. Naruto gasped somewhat melodramatically. "Oh, _now _you've done it you son of a b–"

Naruto's head was promptly slammed into his desk.

"DON'T SPEAK THROUGH MY LECTURE!"

Even Sasuke cringed at the sound Naruto's skull made against the wooden surface. The Namikaze looked up dazedly, blinking slowly as a red mark began forming on his forehead.

"Y-yessir… s-sorry sir… I-I-I mean ma'am! I TOTALLY MEANT MA'AM!" Naruto screeched rather panicky as Tsunade glowered promises of death and torture at him.

Sasuke sighed, and for what felt like the millionth time, wondered what he'd done in his past life to deserve being crammed into one building with such an idiot.

The rest of the lesson, thank the heavens, went by peacefully – save for the last thirteen minutes. Naruto turned to look at him again after having diligently paid attention to Tsunade's lesson (not even an idiot Namikaze would make the same mistake _thrice_), when she'd finished with her explanations and told them to work on their homework for the rest of the lesson. Sasuke took a look at him, and noticed to his surprise how serious the look in his eyes was this time.

"Hey, Sasuke, you know... um…." The blond fiddled awkwardly with the pen Sasuke had borrowed him, prompting the young Uchiha to raise his eyebrows at the sudden thoughtfulness reflected in the blue irises. "You know, this was the most fun lesson I've had this year." Sasuke frowned, but didn't respond, glancing at Tsunade as he knew she was listening in (as was the rest of the class, but they were irrelevant morons) and looked back at the Namikaze, half-flustered and half-curious as to what he was actually trying to say. The boy got his head slammed into his desk; how that could've been fun in any way was beyond him. "I know you're probably going to start immediately avoiding me again after this like the bastard you are, and–" he looked up, blue piercing black "–I'll keep saying this until you finally open your damn eyes, but you're still my best friend and if you ever finally find wherever you dropped your brains, we should… we should get some ramen sometime, alright? Like old times." Naruto beamed, a wide smile seeming to light up the room and chase away the gloominess of the otherwise stuffy classroom. The school bell rang and Naruto stood up, without another word packing his books and for the first time being the one to leave Sasuke behind.

Sasuke sat there for a long while in complete bemusement, and tried not to throw his chair at Tsunade who wore a satisfied smirk on her face.

Unfortunately, both Kakashi and Naruto's kind words turned out to have the opposite effect of what had been intended.

The day passed with a Sasuke who grew more and more frustrated as he thought back to it. Where did _they _get off on thinking he needed their damn pity? Did they think he wanted their worthless compassion? He'd stopped looking for praise a long time ago, and if not even Itachi could change his mind, where did these people get the idea that they could? It was insulting to think they figured they could change his mind by saying a few words, as if that meant anything to him. As if they understood any of what he was feeling.

The school day ended, and like Naruto had predicted, Sasuke steered clear of him as if he were carrying the plague. Karin wasn't at school, apparently at home with a fever. He had barely any classes with Suigetsu, though most of them he did share with Jūgo – all in all, it could've been worse.

At the end of the day, while Suigetsu got detention and Jūgo had somewhere else he needed to be, Sasuke ended up waiting alone for Orochimaru according to their arrangement. He knew the teacher would be very lax with him – though he suspected he wanted something in return. He was, of course, aware of the rumors going around in school concerning the man, but he wasn't too concerned. Rumors were merely rumors.

He waited outside for the teacher, and soon enough (right after he'd called his mother to let her know he'd be helping Orochimaru) he saw the pale man walk towards him with a wide smile – one that would send chills down anyone else's spine. Sasuke, however, had been used to it and so simply ignored it.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun. How was your day?"

"Fine." Sasuke replied monotonously. He hadn't had any classes from Orochimaru that day, and so it was his first time seeing him.

"Good. Now, I have some things I need to take care of and I could use an extra pair of hands." Orochimaru didn't wait for him and instead already walked ahead to his dark blue SUV, getting in the driver's seat while Sasuke got on the passenger's seat right next to him. The village was a very tightly knit community, and so no one really thought it as being strange to see a student leave with a teacher – even with one with such a questionable reputation. Nonetheless, Orochimaru was still very respected for his vast knowledge and expertise in what he did.

It didn't take Sasuke long to figure out they were heading to some place _outside _of the village.

"Where are we going?" he questioned brusquely while staring out the window. As far as he knew, Orochimaru's house was certainly inside the town.

"I'm sure you can figure that out on your own." Orochimaru replied. Sasuke mused over this a little, and then nodded. Must be the place he stored his drugs.

"You would trust me with this?" he asked, a little curious to the man's motivations. Orochimaru glanced at him as he took a left turn, taking them into the forest which bordered on the west side of Konoha.

"Do you have a reason to turn me in?"

Sasuke couldn't say he did.

The car got parked right next to a semi-large cabin which had been mostly hidden by tall trees, safely tucked within the woods and most certainly hard to find if you didn't know where you were going. They both got out of the car, and Sasuke wondered why Kabuto wasn't helping him with this. He asked the man this question, and Orochimaru chuckled.

"There was an emergency at the hospital. With his job it's hard to tell when he'll be called in." Kabuto was a surgeon at Konoha's local hospital of course, previously owned by Tsunade who still came to check on it every now and then, but had decided to take a break for a while, pursuing other hobbies. Why one of them was teaching unwilling teenagers the wonders of geography was beyond him.

"So, what do you need me to do?" Sasuke asked as he followed the man to the small cabin. The door had several different locks on them, and it took Orochimaru a while to unlock all of them.

"Try not to breathe in too deeply, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru warned, but before the boy could ask him for the meaning of those words, he opened the door and he experienced firsthand what the teacher had been talking about. An incredibly strong smell of weed instantly struck him, and he held his nose, not wanting to get high as a kite before even getting started. There were some other scents intermingled with the cannabis – no doubt other drugs Orochimaru stored.

"I suppose you want me to help moving some of this?" Sasuke asked, gesturing to the white bags which were stacked neatly on top of each other in rows – nothing else inside the cabin, not even a light.

"Indeed. A client of mine has demanded a particularly large amount this time. I'll need about fifteen of those bags in the right corner, the ones marked with a blue dot." Sasuke scowled when he realized the man was going to make him do all the work. Indeed, Orochimaru settled for leaning against his car, folding his arms as Sasuke got to work. The bags were large and pretty heavy, so he took his time by loading them in one by one.

He started to feel greatly irritated and somewhat uncomfortable when he noticed the leering going on from the other party, especially when he bent down to pick up a bag. He was used to such looks from others, but decided to be a whole lot more careful and after the third bag, opted to crouch down instead, feeling more comfortable in the position. This, of course, wiped the smirk right off Orochimaru's face. Still, this beat staying in detention for months – at least Sasuke could get something out of this.

When the car was finally loaded in, they both got in, but the older man didn't start the vehicle just yet. Instead he pulled out an already rolled joint from the small upper pocket of his coat, showing it to Sasuke, who'd admittedly been dying to have a drag and relax, letting all his worries float away from him. He reached for it with his hand, but Orochimaru pulled it back with a slight smirk. The young boy scowled, but didn't move when Orochimaru placed the tip of the joint in between his lips instead – and though he felt a small sensation of revulsion twisting in his gut, he didn't even flinch when he felt the tips of the long, pale fingers brush his lips in the process.

If this man hadn't been his dealer he would've kicked his ass a long time ago. But as it was, he couldn't protest. He wanted it too bad.

Orochimaru lighted it up for him and Sasuke took a deep drag, leaning back in his seat as he pressed on the button to roll the car window on his side down, sensibly blowing the smoke outside while the joint rested languidly in between two fingers. Orochimaru started the car, not interested in the drug himself. It didn't take Sasuke long to feel the familiar high again as he contently admired the landscape they passed by. However, with all familiar things, it gets boring and routine after a while. The high he got wasn't nearly as impressive as the first few times anymore, and he flicked the unfinished joint out the window, marginally unsatisfied with its effect.

"Oh? Not satisfied with my wares, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru noted, having seen the small gesture though he was mostly focused on the road ahead.

"Hn."

"You know I do have something… _stronger _if you'd like to try it out." Sasuke frowned, not entirely comfortable with that idea yet. "I'll only give you a small sample. Your body won't get addicted off that." Orochimaru told him, and he considered it for a moment. Well, what could it hurt if it was only once? However–

"You'll want something in return. I know it doesn't come cheap." Sasuke pointed out coolly, his forearm lazily hanging out of the window of the car.

"Ah, but since you _are_ my best student, I could give you about three free samples to try out. We'll discuss the price if you want to keep trying it after that." Orochimaru explained, when he stopped the car near an old gas station on the highway they'd been going on. "Think it over." he added, leaving the car and walking to a shady figure standing near the station. Sasuke watched as he thought about it. The first few tries couldn't be that harmful, could they? He was well convinced he wouldn't become dependent on it mentally, anyway, he thought of himself being stronger than that.

His brother's voice than rang through his head, warning him not to do it, telling him he was making a mistake; and this only further irritated him. Itachi would say something like that. Despite what he'd written in his letter, he didn't _actually _have faith in him. No, if it were up to him, every second of Sasuke's life would be dictated and controlled. Because _nii-san _knew best, _nii-san _was perfect, a prodigy, such a loving brother.

As he sunk further and further into his anger, he barely noticed the shady figure Orochimaru had exchanged some words with loading the bags out of the back of the SUV. He'd only noticed the transaction being completed when his teacher got back into the car, a black suitcase in his hand which he casually threw on the backseat. Soon enough, the client had gotten all his goods and waved once, retreating to his own car. Orochimaru turned to his student.

"Well?" Sasuke stayed silent for a moment.

"Alright. I'll try it out."

An hour later, as Orochimaru dropped him off to his house, he still felt the after-effects of the cocaine buzzing through his system. It had lifted his mood up sky high, far more effective than the joints he usually smoked, leaving him in a euphoric state of mind where no one and nothing could hurt him. His pupils were dilated, his heartbeat having picked up speed, his body feeling hotter, his breathing faster and a dry mouth. He hadn't had such effects with weed, but the positive side of it far outweighed the negative ones. He'd been so exhilarated and fascinated with this new sensation he hadn't cared and had barely noticed his teacher having put a hand on his knee, nor the usual leering of the man. He couldn't stop grinning and feeling happy – which is all that mattered to him.

He arrived home, even giving his mother a kiss on the cheek which she took as a sign that this "punishment" had really helped him, and though he didn't feel like going upstairs, he didn't know what else to do either. In his room he paced up and down, far too energetic and looking for something to do. He pulled out an old video game and amused himself with that for about an hour, until he slowly felt the effects wear off. A heavy feeling dropped onto his shoulders and he suddenly felt even worse than before. He'd actually given into this silly need and had taken a potentially very dangerous route.

He sighed, dropping onto his bed after shutting off his TV and his PS3. Did it really matter anymore? It made him feel good – better than he'd felt in what felt like his entire life. He could handle it. Just a few samples, it would hardly make a difference.

That's when his eye had caught the discarded notebook.

And that's how he'd eventually ended up sitting at his desk, gazing at his twelfth birthday present from his once-close brother, contemplating the contents of the little and mostly empty book.

Sasuke stared at the letter for a while longer, wondering what to do with it. It was his, after all. Part of him wanted to rip the letter out and shred it to pieces, but he could never bring himself to do such a thing. Every word on that page had been written with truthful emotions and intentions, and while he was clearly bothered with Itachi at the moment, he'd never dare to disrespect him like that.

He stood up from his bed which he'd been sitting on, and walked over to his desk. He opened the drawer and grabbed a pen, turning the page over to a new one – Completely blank, pleading to be covered with words. He wasn't sure what he was doing, he wasn't even sure what to think of his brother anymore, but since he couldn't bring himself to have a sincere talk with him face-to-face, this was a much better solution.

'_May 29, 2012_

_To Itachi,_

_I thought it was about time I wrote you a reply. It's been almost exactly four years since that day, and I remember it better than most other days that have passed. I also remember thinking that this notebook was the best gift I'd ever received, and fearing that I would blemish it with my own mundane thoughts, I left it empty and unstained. That is how much I used to look up to you, nii-san. Not anymore. Not ever since I realized while I was looking up at you, you were staring down on me and to this day you have insisted on treating me like an ignorant child. _

_Writing this is pointless. Even if I ever bothered showing you, you wouldn't listen anyway. You never do. _

_Well, I suppose you did make up for all those broken promises that year. The next year, you broke some more. Not very productive, I should say. _

_Did you think trying to make all my decisions for me would actually help? Is this your idea of protecting me? I can't tell you how much I h_

He paused, the tip of his fountain pen hovering over the unfinished letter. He squeezed it in his fist, unable to continue. No, he didn't hate his brother. He could _never _write that down, because it wasn't true. No matter how much Itachi infuriated him, belittled him or looked down on him otherwise, he couldn't hate him.

He continued and abruptly finished the letter.

_Never mind._

_Sasuke. _

He felt a little more relieved now, having let some of his frustration out. Still, it wasn't enough. Still, he wasn't sure how this could all possibly help him in the long run.

He thought back to Kakashi's words that morning. He thought back to Naruto's smile during class that day.

Then he thought back to the incredible feeling the drug had given him. No, they couldn't compete with that feeling. He was convinced of that. No matter what _anyone _said, what they tried to convince him of, he wasn't ever going to feel as good as he'd felt while on the high. He'd lost the feeling of happiness when spending time with his loved ones a long time ago. Now, all he could do was try to recreate that feeling artificially. That feeling when his brother had pushed him while he'd been sitting on the swing-set, when he and Naruto had went out and gotten ramen, when he'd had his birthday parties with his eccentric uncles and caring cousins and otherwise loving family – he wanted it back, and if it took a drug to grasp it, then so be it.

And with this, he was a step closer to the precipice.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait, guys! I was busy with school and a few of my other stories took priority, but I swear I haven't forgotten this one either!**

**Man, I wish you guys could see the text font I picked out for Itachi's and Sasuke's handwriting. It fits them so nicely and why doesn't this damn site allow you to change fonts in chapters?! Such a shame.**

**No, there's not going to be any explicit scenes with Orochimaru in here, I don't really want to take it **_**that **_**far. I suppose if you squint in this chapter, for you yaoi-fans, you may find a little of SasuNaru. But, as stated in the first chapter, I won't go in on any romance.**

**Expect things to get darker from this point on. **

**Next chapter we'll finally go back to Itachi. Time for more brotherly drama! Yay!**

**Thanks to all of my awesome reviewers, like always, you guys rock! I hope everyone enjoyed this extra long chapter!**

**-Cloud. **


	7. Understanding

_The doorbell rang, and like always, Itachi was first to answer it. He was surprised to find the young, blond bundle of energy standing at their doorstep, as it was rare that Naruto came to visit. Usually it was Sasuke who always stayed over at the Namikaze household, but it seemed that Sasuke's recently developed aloofness had prompted this sudden change in routine. Itachi himself had tried talking to Sasuke about this, but it didn't seem like he'd gotten through entirely._

"_Hey, Itachi." Naruto greeted him with a cheerful smile. The twelve year old peeked inside the house, as if it were a forbidden place. "Is Sasuke bastard home?" he then asked, not ashamed for his blatant cussing._

"_Good morning, Naruto-kun. He's upstairs. Come inside; I'll call him for you." Itachi suggested with a friendly smile, stepping aside as the boy walked in, a little clumsily shoving off his shoes before proceeding any further down the hallway. Mikoto came to look from the kitchen, probably having heard his voice._

"_Oh, Naruto-kun! It's been a while, how have you been?" she asked, wiping her hands off on her polka dotted apron. She truly was the ideal, traditional wife; kind, an excellent cook, loving, responsible and the peace keeper. As a mother, well, she could be slightly frightening when displeased. _

"_I'm fine, thanks." Naruto responded shyly as Itachi walked to the stairs._

"_Sasuke, Naruto is here to see you." He called out. There was a few seconds of silence before the sound of a door opening resonated through the house._

"_I'm coming." Sasuke muttered as he came down, seeming to be in a little grumpy mood. He looked at his best friend with a scowl. "What are you doing here, dead last?"_

"_Sasuke!" Mikoto scolded him and he winced slightly, though Naruto ignored this as he smirked. _

"_I'm here to get you outside for some ramen! Hurry up and put your shoes on, Sakura-chan is already waiting for us!" Sasuke grimaced at this, but apparently neither Naruto nor his mother wanted to hear any objections. _

"_I think that's a great idea, right, Sasuke?" Mikoto smiled with a passive aggressive glint in her eyes, daring her son to protest. Sasuke gulped and nodded profusely, quickly getting his shoes to put them on. Naruto didn't seem to notice and was ecstatic that he'd managed to get Sasuke out of the house again, though the boy didn't seem very happy about this. Mikoto handed him some money and quickly hurried back to the kitchen when her cookies threatened to burn. Sasuke opened the door and left with a scowl. Naruto wanted to follow him, though Itachi stopped him. _

"_A word, Naruto-kun?" _

"_Uh, sure." Naruto responded with an uncertain glance In Sasuke's direction, who was impatiently waiting outside. _

"_How has Sasuke been doing in school?" _

"_Fine?"_

"_I meant his behavior, Naruto-kun. Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary lately?" Naruto scratched the back of his head, frowning deeply as he thought about it for quite a while. Itachi waited patiently. _

"_I guess he's been a lot more quiet than usual. Plus, he's been a little grumpy. But other than that he's been normal." _

"_I see. If you notice anything strange, I'd like you to inform me, is that alright?"_

"_Um, okay. Itachi? Do you think there's something… uh, you know, wrong with Sasuke, or something?" the Namikaze kid asked, the concern for his friend evident on his face. _

"_No," Itachi responded softly, staring at Sasuke who kicked a stone out of his way. "Not yet." Naruto didn't notice the subtle choice of words and smirked. _

"_Alright, then we'll be going! See ya later, Itachi!" With that, the energetic boy rushed out of the house after having put on his shoes again, closing the door though his happy chattering could be heard from a mile away. Itachi sighed, returning to his room upstairs to finish his homework. _

_For some reason, he couldn't shake off the ominous feeling tugging at his chest. _

Slow jazz music filled the inviting, cozy bar as the few inhabitants talked quietly, giving the barman an easy night as the young man dried off the newly cleaned glasses to put them back in their places – though his thoughts were somewhere else entirely. Itachi was sulking, and even if it was barely noticeable on his face, it was enough to affect the atmosphere around him. He was, for the first time in years, considering to drop both his kendo and taekwondo courses to have more spare time to spend with his family. He didn't really want to do it, but he saw no other option. Their mother was too oblivious to notice Sasuke no doubt manipulating her, and their father already had enough to worry about on his job. Konoha wasn't _magically_ devoid of criminals, after all. It was only because of the hard work of their local police that it was such a safe town to stay in.

He dully placed the glass on the counter, and looked up to see if anyone new had arrived yet. There was a group of people seated around a table in the furthest corner of the bar. He recognized most of them, some of them subordinates of his father, but didn't really pay attention otherwise. Then there were the three high school students seated near the bar. One of the unmistakably a Hyuuga, the other a Yamanaka and the third a girl he couldn't place with any specific family. He checked the clock. It was nearing twelve on a Tuesday night, and he wondered if he should ask them whether it was a good idea to stay up so late. He decided it was their own decision and continued with drying to glasses – not missing the secret glances the blond Yamanaka girl sent his way. After a while he got a little tired with it and met her eyes. The girl blushed and quickly looked way while her friends giggled.

"Flustering high school girls, Itachi? I didn't think you'd be that childish." Itachi turned to his right and to his mild surprise saw Obito was seated against the bar, casually looking over the café's menu.

"Good evening, Obito." he deadpanned, putting away the cloth he'd used to clean the glasses with. "Why are you here?"

"No need to be so cold. I was just wondering how my favorite cousin was doing." Obito replied with a slight frown, putting back the menu as he leaned back on the barstool. He was Mikoto's younger cousin, which made him Itachi and Sasuke's cousin, once removed.

"You have no favorite cousin. You hate all of them equally – or, that is what you said last time you visited." Itachi replied dryly, not minding the three girls eavesdropping on their conversation. Obito chuckled.

"Come on, I was just joking around. It wasn't exactly fun having your mother yell at me for two hours, and just because I got into a little accident and didn't inform you straight away."

"You showed up at our house covered in blood and your arm wrapped in bandages."

"Tch, it was just a flesh wound!" He'd actually gotten into quite a car accident, and instead of doing the sensible thing and going to the hospital, he'd brushed it off and had shown up completely injured on their doorstep – and had thus nearly given Mikoto a heart attack. Itachi looked the man over. He seemed a little more… wobbly. "How is your little brother doing? Still the same gloomy heap of teenage angst and self-loathing?"

"…I suppose." Itachi muttered. "Would you like a drink?"

"No, I'm good." He checked his watch. "Actually, I'll go for a beer. Knowing Kakashi, he won't be here in another hour."

"Didn't it used to be the other way around?"

"Ah, well. Some people grow up, others grow down. What can you do?" Itachi felt inclined to agree with this as he served Obito his drink, wondering whether Sasuke had gone to bed already. He discreetly leaned over a little, and unmistakably Obito reeked of the stench of alcohol.

"You've been drinking before this." Itachi noted dully. Obito rolled his eyes at this, to which his younger cousin frowned. "You have work early tomorrow, don't you?"

"Mother dearest, is that you?" Obito sneered, looking away disinterestedly as a sign he wished not to speak of the subject any longer. "So, why is Sasuke walking around with our local pedophile?" Itachi froze for a moment, though he couldn't say he hadn't seen that coming. He sighed drearily, brushing a few of his wayward locks behind his ear.

"I don't know, _yet_."

"I see." Obito sipped a little from his drink as he inconspicuously looked around the bar, Itachi done with cleaning as he sat down on a chair and took a quick break. "You know, if you're having trouble with the kid, just hand him over to Madara if–"

"No." Itachi immediately interrupted. "Sending him to that man is a last resort." Obito snickered at this.

"But you can't denyhe'd straighten the brat out within a few weeks."

"After psychologically torturing him, yes. Like I said; a last resort."

"Sasuke is a tough kid, he can… well, speaking of the devil." Obito turned to look out the window, and Itachi promptly followed his gaze. There he was, walking outside all alone – Itachi's _foolish, reckless, irresponsible, rebellious, incomprehensible–_

"Itachi -chan? Darling, where are you going?" Obito jeered after him, his drunkenness making itself a little more apparent this time. Itachi hoped, for his cousin's sake, that Kakashi could straighten him out – that is, if he arrived before Obito drunk himself into a coma. Whatever was going on in the man's private life, he refused to confide to anyone but the masked man.

'…_It seems stupidity runs in the family.' _Itachi decided with an annoyed sigh as he grabbed his jacket, putting it on while he rushed outside, ignoring the complaints of his boss who'd finally noticed his departure. He barely spotted the mess of blue-black hair in the distance, just turning around the corner and disappearing out of sight. Itachi's eyes were set in a cold glare as he set in the chase, not at all pleased with his younger brother's actions. It didn't take him long to catch up to Sasuke, and put a hand on his shoulder to gain his attention. Sasuke nearly spun around so fast he tripped over his own feet, his eyes wide as he then regarded his older brother.

"Sasuke," Itachi started sternly, not letting go of his shoulder, "what are you doing out this late?" Sasuke blinked.

"Taking a walk. Hey, shouldn't you be working?" Itachi stayed silent and observed the boy's behavior for a while. He looked around constantly, and started to get restless. Such fidgety actions were quite unlike him, and immediately raised several red flags in his mind. "Let me go already." Sasuke then huffed, attempting to pry Itachi's hand off his shoulder. It didn't budge and Itachi narrowed his eyes at this. He leaned in closer, causing more resistance though he promptly ignored this. "W-what the hell are you doing?" His eyes gazed directly into Sasuke's nervous ones. Then he noticed. Dilated pupils. It had been hard to spot because of the dark eye color at first, and he finally let go of his brother with a weary sigh, actually starting to consider Obito's earlier suggestion.

"I should be angry right about now." Itachi murmured, and Sasuke's gaze dropped, probably having realized Itachi had figured him out. People around them kept walking, no one even realizing how big of a scandal they'd just walked right past, the night lights of the city which had previously been a welcome attraction to Sasuke were now nothing more than a huge irritation. "I should be angry, but I can't. I'm tired, Sasuke." Perhaps his busy schedule had taken a toll on him after all. Paying attention during his classes had become harder lately, and more often than not did he find himself collapse onto his bed when he got home. Sasuke refused to look up at him, the buzz of his drug suppressed when confronted with his older brother like this.

"What do you expect me to say?" Sasuke snapped, growing impatient with the conversation.

"Nothing at all. I already know what you really think of me." Not entirely true, but Sasuke's reaction gave him hope that maybe he wasn't as far gone as he'd initially thought. Sasuke looked away with a deep frown, shame flashing in his eyes for a moment as he clenched his hands into fists.

"I… I didn't… I didn't actually _mean _what I said back then." he said softly, referring to the outburst in which he'd stated far too many things that could not be taken back so easily. Itachi watched him in silence. "I… look, you were pissing me off and I just blurted out the first thing that came to mind to get rid of you. I didn't mean it. I never…." Sasuke looked around, almost helplessly, or perhaps in a way to avoid the conversation, but Itachi refused to interrupt and continued listening. The boy took a deep breath. "I could never hate you." Even if he'd suspected as much, the feeling of a bright relief washed over him and he barely held back a smile.

"I know. Look at me, Sasuke." he demanded, though gently, and almost begrudgingly his brother complied. Sasuke was nearly shamed by the amount of understanding in the other's eyes, feeling compelled to look away though Itachi didn't allow him to, holding his gaze captive. "I understand."

"No you–"

"_I understand_." Itachi repeated firmly. Sasuke gazed at him for what felt like an eternity, trying to find any sort of doubt written in his brother's eyes.

"How could you?!" he demanded to know, crossing his arms as he was still not convinced. "You were always their favorite. Everyone always looked at you. Nothing I ever did was considered an accomplishment or special or… why do you have to be like this?! Why do you have to be so damn perfect?! I can't even bring myself to hate you; do you know how much that hurts?!" People around them were starting to pay attention now, but Itachi couldn't let this moment slide. Under the influence of the drug, no matter how wrong it was, Sasuke was far more open than he would've been otherwise and it helped him understand his brother better. "Every time I got jealous I hated _myself _for it, because you're my brother and I should only be happy for you – but I couldn't even do that! Whenever I start yelling at you or say something cruel it comes back to haunt me, and if I'd just despised you I could've… this whole thing would've been so much easier!" Sasuke took a deep breath, his voice having been raised a little as Itachi simply stood there, as composed as ever as he hid behind a mask, and silent for a few seconds as he let Sasuke calm down while he took in all of that information.

It weighed down on him like a stack of bricks, dragging him under into a flood of guilt as he blamed himself for not having realized how much Sasuke had been suffering earlier. Mixed emotions had flashed in his brother's eyes; anger, pain, guilt, shame, more anger, sadness – and Itachi was to blame for it. He gently grabbed the younger man, who was trembling from all those emotions being bottled up inside him, and pulled him against his chest. Sasuke froze completely for a moment as Itachi sighed deeply into his hair, as he knew all of this could've been prevented so easily.

'_If only, if only…' _

"I'm sorry you had to pay for my flaws, Sasuke." Itachi told him quietly, though the embrace spoke a language no words could ever convey. He slowly released his brother again who stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights. It took Sasuke a while to regain whatever was left of his former composure, as he rubbed the back of his neck, vehemently avoiding Itachi's piercing gaze.

"Are you going to drag me back home now and leave me there, like you always do?" he mumbled gruffly, and Itachi froze for a moment.

'_Ah.'_

An epiphany had reached him.

"No. You're free to do whatever you wish." he finally spoke in a surprisingly calm manner. Sasuke looked up at him with a flustered expression, obviously having not expected that reaction. "I think it's about time I let you take responsibility of your own actions. Words will not reach you anymore at this point, and while I would've liked to pull you back from this path myself, it seems all I've been doing so far is pushing you more towards it. I'm sorry for not realizing this sooner, Sasuke." He mustered up a genuine, though weary, smile, and affectionately placed his hand on top of his younger brother's head, his fingers brushing through the spiky strands of hair.

"You're just going to give up?" Sasuke asked, completely baffled and with a hint of anger in his voice. "That's it? You're going to play the role of the martyr again? You think that's going to solve all of this?!" Itachi's smile fell a little.

"No, but I believe in you to see the truth. I can't always be there to help you get back up, Sasuke, and it's time you realized this as well."

"I never asked for your help in the first place!"

"But you do want the attention, don't you?" Itachi pointed out ever so calmly. Sasuke fell silent at this, not knowing what to say. "I understand. A huge part of this is my fault. I should've watched over you better, I should've talked to mother and father about this sooner. I'm sorry for leaving you such a big mess to clean up, little brother."

"You…." the younger Uchiha was at a loss for words, wracking his brain to come up with a retort, but all he found was more directionless anger.

"Just do me one favor, Sasuke." Itachi spoke again, his soothing tone of voice having turned to have a grave edge to it. "Be wary of that man, please. He truly is a snake amongst men, and I can't be held accountable for my actions should he harm you in any way, do you understand?"

"I… yes, but–"

"Good." Itachi interrupted him, realizing he should probably return to his job now. "Think about what I said. I won't lie to mother and father any longer, and if they ask me about this, I intend to tell them the truth. Now, I must return to my work. I'll see you next time, Sasuke." Like old times, his fingers reached up and poked the soft skin of his younger brother's forehead, who was entirely dazed with the whole situation. With a last smile, he turned around and walked away, satisfied with how he'd controlled his initial cold anger and had managed to convey such a clear message.

But of course, Itachi Uchiha wouldn't be Itachi Uchiha if he hadn't thought of a back-up plan.

When he returned to the bar, he found that Obito hadn't moved an inch from his seat. The inebriated man looked up.

"Oh, back so soon? How did it go?"

"Fine." Itachi replied curtly as he pulled out his phone from the pocket of his jacket. Obito seemed surprised.

"Is that so? What did you tell him?" he inquired curiously, running his finger over the edge of his glass while he stared at his cousin. Itachi didn't even look up as he searched through his contact list.

"That he's on his own from now on."

"…Seriously?" Obito leaned back on his seat, his drunken mind barely taking in this information. "You know, that doesn't sound like something you'd do at all, Itachi-_chan_. Who are you calling?" Itachi shushed the talkative man with a cool gaze, as he dialed the number he'd been looking for and put the phone to his ear, waiting for the person to pick up. After a few seconds of silence, he had his response.

"_Itachi. It's been a while." _

"Uncle Madara," Itachi paused for a moment, knowing the busy man did not appreciate small talk, "Sasuke is in a little bit of trouble."

Obito chuckled. "Now _that _sounds like something you'd do!"

"_Define trouble." _Madara replied brusquely. _"And tell Obito to stop drinking. I can smell his breath through the phone." _Itachi suppressed an amused smile at this, and stayed on topic. While the man was undoubtedly the most successful in their entire family, he'd still stayed very close in touch with them over the years (though partially because of Mikoto constantly nagging to him about it) and whenever there was a quarrel amongst them that couldn't be solved by the rest of their family, Madara was called in and straightened the entire ordeal out immediately and with a severe attitude, while sometimes Izuna accompanied him as his friendlier counterpart. It was almost like a good-cop-bad-cop situation half the time.

"He's made a mess of himself lately. I'll mail you the entire story later as it is quite sensitive information, but the point is, you're my plan B if things go wrong from here on out."

"_Oh? Things are already looking bad if _you _needed to devise a plan B."_

"I suppose you could say that." Itachi glanced at the door of the café opening while Kakashi strolled in casually, as if he weren't thirty minutes late. Though, that was still surprisingly early considering his average was about two to three hours of tardiness. Obito sneered a remark at him as he approached a bar, though Itachi was too deep in thought to pay attention. "In any case, I called you to tell you to free up a part of your schedule from next week on to… let's say, another two weeks."

"_Hmph. Things must be going very badly if that's your time estimate."_

"Yes, well, you can read it for yourself once I send you that e-mail."

"_Fine, I'll handle it. Send the brat over to me and I'll teach him some manners; god knows all Mikoto ever did was teach him how to play with dolls. Tch." _

"Thank you, uncle."

"_Of course." _

They hung up almost simultaneously, and with this, Itachi felt like a small weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Now to take care of the rest of them.

* * *

**Madara Uchiha Bootcamp?**

**Lord have mercy on Sasuke's soul.**

**Also, a quick note; I just realized I used Naruto's two surnames interchangeably, and I've decided to permanently stick with 'Namikaze'. While I'm very used to Uzumaki, Namikaze would make more sense in this scenario. I've also gone back and edited previous chapters which referred to him as such.**

**Secondly, concerning Obito's character, I decided to keep him somewhere between his Tobi persona and the person he was as a child. I hope I pulled it off well, as I'm far more used to writing his Tobi persona entirely instead of a balance between the two.**

**Anyways, not too eventful – that's because all the horrible stuff is in the next chapter. Just a little preview: Sasuke doesn't deal to well with this recent conversation and Oroachimaru decides to make his move. Make of that what you will :P**

**Thanks for the marvelous reviews, guys, and sorry for keeping you waiting but I have lots of schoolwork to take care of so updated may come slower this time of the year!**

**I hope you review again and I'll see ya next time!**

**-Cloud. **


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